High cal, low fat, low faff foods?

missfancy1980 · March 2012

I posted earlier on how trying to eat healthy low calorie foods is such a ball ache because of having to buy fresh food that goes off quickly, costing extra etc. Well looking over my food diary I eat a LOT of different things daily. I'm wondering if there is a way to cut down on all that food, while still getting, even upping, my calories? I'm on 1,200 atm but want to up that to 1,400 - 1,500 when i'm exercising.

I know for example that protein shakes, avocados, olive oil, cheese, eggs are good foods for upping cals while still being healthy, and all of those are easily maintainable as in i can eat them quickly or store them.

Any more ideas? No meat though please

nammer79 · March 2012

I don't really do many fresh veggies cause they tend to go bad real fast I do go with the frozen ones tho but they aren't that high in calories from what I've seen. I would suggest bread maybe some of the whole wheat ones have up to 100 calories per slice. I don't know if your watching your crabs tho but that's a thought.

privatetime · March 2012

I can't really answer your question, but I can relate. The bane of my existence, these days, seems to be mini wholegrain pitas, my favourite commercially-prepared curry lentil soup, and baby bok choy.

The mini pitas are only sold in bags that would take me two weeks to consume, but they're only good for 5-7 days from purchase. That means I throw out half a bag of mini pitas every week. I normally eat them with my spicy hummus.

The lentil soup used to be widely available in my area then POOF, everyone stopped carrying it. Well, okay, not everyone. But since the manufacturer makes four or five different kinds, and the curry lentil is the most popular and sells out first, the few that do still carry it seem to wait to re-order until all varieties from the brand are sold. I add to the problem then because I buy three or four packages when I find them. One half to one cup of lentil soup makes a nice lunch or snack.

The baby bok choy is like the mini pitas. Most grocery stores in my area sell relatively large bags of baby bok choy. I throw it into clear or vegetable soups, but I don't eat those soups everyday. So, I invariably throw out some bok choy each week.

Papaya and avocado are also precarious to get just ripe enough to eat, while sitting on my counter, but not too ripe to the point of spoiling. I always feel bad for the guy in the compost truck on days I've had to throw out a whole papaya because it has spoiled. Those things add a lot of weight to my compost bin (which is already full of expired mini pitas and wilted bok choy).

:-)

Quel1970 · March 2012

I prefer fresh fruits and veggies whenever possible but I would think frozen is better than canned. I have been more careful about checking the sodium in canned.

I also stock up on eggs and keep one carton of boiled eggs in the fridge- very easy, healthy snack for 80 calories.

privatetime- have you tried freezing bok choy or your fruit? The bok choy may do better if its been shredded then flash froze and the frozen fruit would be fine for smoothies or something. Just trying to save ya some cash

A cpl of years ago I invested in a food saver machine and I freeze lots of food especially fresh veggies in the summer so we have plenty during the winter.

seekingstrengthX2 · March 2012

Almond butter, baby. I am so addicted to almond butter right now. :-)

I spread it on pita crackers. It's sooooo good.

Also try some new grains; couscous, quinoa, orzo.... all yummy.

privatetime · March 2012

privatetime- have you tried freezing bok choy or your fruit? The bok choy may do better if its been shredded then flash froze and the frozen fruit would be fine for smoothies or something. Just trying to save ya some cash A cpl of years ago I invested in a food saver machine and I freeze lots of food especially fresh veggies in the summer so we have plenty during the winter.

Hey, thanks for thinking of me, Quel1970! :-)

I'm just one of those people who really doesn't like frozen (or canned) anything, for the most part. My freezer has a few convenience meals, and often some frozen Ace demi-baguettes for my husband (9 minutes in the oven and it comes out almost like freshly-baked bread), oh and ice. That's about it.

Thank you so much for suggesting it, though. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. :-)

privatetime · March 2012

(Couldn't edit my post for some reason. Wanted to add...) Oops! I totally forgot about edamame. I have tried to find it fresh, which I would prefer, but no one seems to carry it. Only frozen. I always have some frozen edamame in the freezer. It's a quick and easy snack, since you just have to boil it for maybe 5 minutes before eating.. Great source of protein and iron.

missfancy1980 · March 2012

I eat cous cous regularly, and my rice cakes have quinoa in them

almond butter sounds yummy, where can I get that from? I'm in UK and not heard of it before.

privatetime · March 2012

Almond butter, baby. I am so addicted to almond butter right now. :-)

Um...... Thank you!?!!! ;-)

I was looking around the MFP web site, trying to decide what to have for dinner (looking for good carb-protein ratio). Then I remembered your comment about almond butter.

I'm vegan, so my proteins are also carb's...and usually much more carb than protein. Edamame, for example, is "pretty good" in this regard, yet is about 9g carb's and 8g protein per 1/2 cup.

I looked up a generic almond butter, and it was 5g carb's and 7g protein per 2 Tbsp.

Since I don't really care about fat (didn't even look at it, actually), I've added almond butter to my shopping list.

Thanks for the tip. It's not something I likely would've considered, on my own. Thanks for mentioning it, and I'm glad I looked it up! I hope you haven't inspired an addiction! ;-)

seekingstrengthX2 · March 2012

Barney Butter (brand of almond butter) is the absolute best!!!! Best yet, it comes in little 90 calorie squeezable packages that are the perfect size for a cracker snack. It keeps me from eating it by the spoonful. LOL. I haven't found it near me, I bought it off of Amazon.

LuckyLeprechaun · March 2012

Thought you said you're trying for 1700 net calories?

JenniferAHaines · March 2012

I always have almonds on hand to snack on or cut up and add to yogurt. They're pretty high in calories by weight but super good for you.

lconverse · March 2012

Greek yogurt, watch out for the sugar though. Also have you ever tried hummus? I'm sorry if people have mentioned these both already, I kind of just skimmed through the other answers.

With the greek (or any) yogurt you can make smoothies, green smoothies (spinach) are a good way to squeeze in some vegetables.

try experimenting with chia seeds too. i put them in yogurt.

Psufilmgirl · March 2012

(Couldn't edit my post for some reason. Wanted to add...) Oops! I totally forgot about edamame. I have tried to find it fresh, which I would prefer, but no one seems to carry it. Only frozen. I always have some frozen edamame in the freezer. It's a quick and easy snack, since you just have to boil it for maybe 5 minutes before eating.. Great source of protein and iron.

Trader Joe's has it, but it's pretty high in sodium.

privatetime · March 2012

(Couldn't edit my post for some reason. Wanted to add...) Oops! I totally forgot about edamame. I have tried to find it fresh, which I would prefer, but no one seems to carry it. Only frozen. I always have some frozen edamame in the freezer. It's a quick and easy snack, since you just have to boil it for maybe 5 minutes before eating.. Great source of protein and iron.

Trader Joe's has it, but it's pretty high in sodium.

Aw, heck. No Trader Joe's near me. :-(

But raw, fresh edamame should be zero, or very low in, sodium. ...Not so much when I encrust the pods with copious amounts of ground sea salt. (No worries, though. Most of the salt stays with the pod and AND I'm not really tracking sodium.) ;-)

High cal, low fat, low faff foods?

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